Page 40 of Spark of Sorcery

However, I get no further than my own doorway, because there, standing on the other side of the door when I draw it open, is Dray Eros, leaning against the wall and chewing gum.

A huge grin stretches across his face as his eyes meander down my form. Slowly. Very slowly.

“Fuck me, Kitten,” he says, removing the gum from his mouth and pressing it into the wall, “you look good enough to eat.”

“Jeez,” I say, nearly jumping right out of my skin. “You scared me.”

“What? Me?” He grins. “The big bad wolf?”

“What are you doing here?” I ask, closing the door behind me, before I realize this leaves the two of us trapped together on the narrow strip of landing.

“Come to collect you. That was the deal, right?”

“Were you going to knock, or were you just going to wait there all day?”

“Depends if I got impatient or not. Come on, the others are waiting.” He goes to take ahold of my elbow and I move it straight out of his reach.

“Erm, no. I’m going with my friends – not with you.”

He groans like I’ve just said something really dull. “Not this bullshit again. Can’t you and Beaufort just kiss and make up already? It’s getting boring.”

“We did … sort of …” I say, crinkling my brow and trying to decipher what exactly did happen yesterday.

“Sort of?” he says with a smirk.

“It’s complicated with him. Every time I think we can get along, he shows me who he really is.”

“You didn’t know already?”

“Oh, because he’s so popular and so wonderful, I’d have to know who he was.”

“No, because he’s an asshole and it’s clear all the way from outer space. Look,” he bends down low so our gazes are level, “he messed up. You never mess up before?”

“Did he tell you what he said to me?” I ask, scowling right into Dray Eros’s ridiculously mesmerizing eyes.

“Uh uh, but, come on, he can tell me now.” He grabs my hand and this time I don’t get the chance to dodge it, nor am I strong enough to pull my hand from his tight grip. Unless I want to scream and shout and make a scene, I’m left with no choice but to trot along after him as he pulls me along.

It’s as I do that I take in for the first time what he’s wearing. Not the academy uniform or his usual favored outfit – sweatpants and a T-shirt. Tonight he’s dressed in a well-fitted dark suit. Okay, so he isn’t wearing a tie and his shirt is undone all the way to his sternum, but he still looks the smartest I’ve ever seen him, especially with his long platinum hair combed loose.

I guess his nose really does have super powers or something because as I’m checking him out, he peers over his shoulder at me and grins. I don’t need superpowers myself to know what that look means.

My cheeks warm.

“Where exactly are we going?” I ask.

“There are drinks in the shadow weaver common room before the ball starts.”

“Uh uh,” I say, shaking my head wildly. “There is no way in hell I’m going to that.”

“Rather go back to my room and mess around instead?” he growls.

The way he looks tonight, I hate to admit, but that offer istempting.

I bite on my lip. What the hell is wrong with me?

Okay, so protectors share their thralls and, though Thorne is clearly unhappy about that prospect, Beaufort and Dray have both made it very clear that they want me. That they both want me. But isn’t it still crazy that maybe, just maybe, I want them both as well? Because, aren’t I only meant to want one person at a time? Isn’t it a little bit greedy that I’d happily take both of them?

Dray chuckles and pulls me in close to his body, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and peering down into my face.